'Cyclonic' winds and sideways rain batter east coast
Gale-force gusts and heavy rain downed trees, damaged properties and closed roads from southern NSW to the mid-north coast, including across Sydney.
The state's south coast was worst hit on Wednesday, including in Burrill Lake, where about 200 properties were flooded after 200mm of overnight rain.
Trees brought down powerlines, leaving tens of thousands of people - and some sewerage plants - offline.
The "sideways" rain was the worst Shoalhaven mayor Patricia White had seen in 30 years living in Ulladulla.
"The trees aren't just dropping branches, the whole tree is coming out of the ground," she told AAP.
Council staff were battling the weather late into the night.
"They made the call at midnight to come in because it was just too dangerous," Ms White said.
From the 2019 Black Summer bushfires to repeated storms and floods, south coast residents had become all too experienced at dealing with damage, she said.
"We've had so many natural disasters in the past five years it is not funny," Ms White said.
But it has made the community "really resilient".
"We do know how to move in and solve the problem," she said.
Emergency crews conducted seven flood rescues from people driving into floodwaters on the NSW south coast on Tuesday night, with three more on Wednesday.
Ulladulla postie Kevin Hayes saw Burrill Lakes flooding during a reconnaissance mission after an early morning call from the local newsagent.
"There was water lapping at his front door," he said.
"We're all still trying to go about our business, but there's small parts of the community that just can't get out.
The storm had been "kind of cyclonic", Mr Hayes said.
"There was a shitload of rain and the winds have just been shocking."
The SES has responded to nearly 3500 incidents in recent days and says people need to heed warnings to stay safe.
Endeavour Energy, which runs power around the state, including the south coast, said outages peaked at about 30,000 homes.
Power has been restored to about two-thirds of them.
But some customers will remain without power until at least Thursday morning.
A 55-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head and torso injuries after a tree fell and crushed his truck at Moss Vale in the southern highlands.
The unconscious driver was extracted from his truck cabin at 10.30pm on Tuesday.
Hundreds of properties on the Central Coast and south coast were subject to evacuation or shelter-now warnings on Wednesday afternoon.
Sydney's Warragamba Dam is expected to experience a "moderate spill" overnight into Thursday.
Residents on Lord Howe Island have been warned about damaging wind and surf, with the complex low pressure system that has battered the east coast expected to move into the Tasman Sea.
Millions of residents on Australia's east coast have battled through wild weather as "cyclonic" winds and pounding rain caused major power outages and flooding.
Gale-force gusts and heavy rain downed trees, damaged properties and closed roads from southern NSW to the mid-north coast, including across Sydney.
The state's south coast was worst hit on Wednesday, including in Burrill Lake, where about 200 properties were flooded after 200mm of overnight rain.
Trees brought down powerlines, leaving tens of thousands of people - and some sewerage plants - offline.
The "sideways" rain was the worst Shoalhaven mayor Patricia White had seen in 30 years living in Ulladulla.
"The trees aren't just dropping branches, the whole tree is coming out of the ground," she told AAP.
Council staff were battling the weather late into the night.
"They made the call at midnight to come in because it was just too dangerous," Ms White said.
From the 2019 Black Summer bushfires to repeated storms and floods, south coast residents had become all too experienced at dealing with damage, she said.
"We've had so many natural disasters in the past five years it is not funny," Ms White said.
But it has made the community "really resilient".
"We do know how to move in and solve the problem," she said.
Emergency crews conducted seven flood rescues from people driving into floodwaters on the NSW south coast on Tuesday night, with three more on Wednesday.
Ulladulla postie Kevin Hayes saw Burrill Lakes flooding during a reconnaissance mission after an early morning call from the local newsagent.
"There was water lapping at his front door," he said.
"We're all still trying to go about our business, but there's small parts of the community that just can't get out.
The storm had been "kind of cyclonic", Mr Hayes said.
"There was a shitload of rain and the winds have just been shocking."
The SES has responded to nearly 3500 incidents in recent days and says people need to heed warnings to stay safe.
Endeavour Energy, which runs power around the state, including the south coast, said outages peaked at about 30,000 homes.
Power has been restored to about two-thirds of them.
But some customers will remain without power until at least Thursday morning.
A 55-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head and torso injuries after a tree fell and crushed his truck at Moss Vale in the southern highlands.
The unconscious driver was extracted from his truck cabin at 10.30pm on Tuesday.
Hundreds of properties on the Central Coast and south coast were subject to evacuation or shelter-now warnings on Wednesday afternoon.
Sydney's Warragamba Dam is expected to experience a "moderate spill" overnight into Thursday.
Residents on Lord Howe Island have been warned about damaging wind and surf, with the complex low pressure system that has battered the east coast expected to move into the Tasman Sea.
Millions of residents on Australia's east coast have battled through wild weather as "cyclonic" winds and pounding rain caused major power outages and flooding.
Gale-force gusts and heavy rain downed trees, damaged properties and closed roads from southern NSW to the mid-north coast, including across Sydney.
The state's south coast was worst hit on Wednesday, including in Burrill Lake, where about 200 properties were flooded after 200mm of overnight rain.
Trees brought down powerlines, leaving tens of thousands of people - and some sewerage plants - offline.
The "sideways" rain was the worst Shoalhaven mayor Patricia White had seen in 30 years living in Ulladulla.
"The trees aren't just dropping branches, the whole tree is coming out of the ground," she told AAP.
Council staff were battling the weather late into the night.
"They made the call at midnight to come in because it was just too dangerous," Ms White said.
From the 2019 Black Summer bushfires to repeated storms and floods, south coast residents had become all too experienced at dealing with damage, she said.
"We've had so many natural disasters in the past five years it is not funny," Ms White said.
But it has made the community "really resilient".
"We do know how to move in and solve the problem," she said.
Emergency crews conducted seven flood rescues from people driving into floodwaters on the NSW south coast on Tuesday night, with three more on Wednesday.
Ulladulla postie Kevin Hayes saw Burrill Lakes flooding during a reconnaissance mission after an early morning call from the local newsagent.
"There was water lapping at his front door," he said.
"We're all still trying to go about our business, but there's small parts of the community that just can't get out.
The storm had been "kind of cyclonic", Mr Hayes said.
"There was a shitload of rain and the winds have just been shocking."
The SES has responded to nearly 3500 incidents in recent days and says people need to heed warnings to stay safe.
Endeavour Energy, which runs power around the state, including the south coast, said outages peaked at about 30,000 homes.
Power has been restored to about two-thirds of them.
But some customers will remain without power until at least Thursday morning.
A 55-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head and torso injuries after a tree fell and crushed his truck at Moss Vale in the southern highlands.
The unconscious driver was extracted from his truck cabin at 10.30pm on Tuesday.
Hundreds of properties on the Central Coast and south coast were subject to evacuation or shelter-now warnings on Wednesday afternoon.
Sydney's Warragamba Dam is expected to experience a "moderate spill" overnight into Thursday.
Residents on Lord Howe Island have been warned about damaging wind and surf, with the complex low pressure system that has battered the east coast expected to move into the Tasman Sea.
Millions of residents on Australia's east coast have battled through wild weather as "cyclonic" winds and pounding rain caused major power outages and flooding.
Gale-force gusts and heavy rain downed trees, damaged properties and closed roads from southern NSW to the mid-north coast, including across Sydney.
The state's south coast was worst hit on Wednesday, including in Burrill Lake, where about 200 properties were flooded after 200mm of overnight rain.
Trees brought down powerlines, leaving tens of thousands of people - and some sewerage plants - offline.
The "sideways" rain was the worst Shoalhaven mayor Patricia White had seen in 30 years living in Ulladulla.
"The trees aren't just dropping branches, the whole tree is coming out of the ground," she told AAP.
Council staff were battling the weather late into the night.
"They made the call at midnight to come in because it was just too dangerous," Ms White said.
From the 2019 Black Summer bushfires to repeated storms and floods, south coast residents had become all too experienced at dealing with damage, she said.
"We've had so many natural disasters in the past five years it is not funny," Ms White said.
But it has made the community "really resilient".
"We do know how to move in and solve the problem," she said.
Emergency crews conducted seven flood rescues from people driving into floodwaters on the NSW south coast on Tuesday night, with three more on Wednesday.
Ulladulla postie Kevin Hayes saw Burrill Lakes flooding during a reconnaissance mission after an early morning call from the local newsagent.
"There was water lapping at his front door," he said.
"We're all still trying to go about our business, but there's small parts of the community that just can't get out.
The storm had been "kind of cyclonic", Mr Hayes said.
"There was a shitload of rain and the winds have just been shocking."
The SES has responded to nearly 3500 incidents in recent days and says people need to heed warnings to stay safe.
Endeavour Energy, which runs power around the state, including the south coast, said outages peaked at about 30,000 homes.
Power has been restored to about two-thirds of them.
But some customers will remain without power until at least Thursday morning.
A 55-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head and torso injuries after a tree fell and crushed his truck at Moss Vale in the southern highlands.
The unconscious driver was extracted from his truck cabin at 10.30pm on Tuesday.
Hundreds of properties on the Central Coast and south coast were subject to evacuation or shelter-now warnings on Wednesday afternoon.
Sydney's Warragamba Dam is expected to experience a "moderate spill" overnight into Thursday.
Residents on Lord Howe Island have been warned about damaging wind and surf, with the complex low pressure system that has battered the east coast expected to move into the Tasman Sea.
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Bears, ice and mud challenge Aussie firies in Canada
When fighting fires in the Australian bush, Abbie Rhodes looks up for burning trees threatening to fall and is on alert for venomous snakes and spiders. During a deployment to battle wildfires in Canada, she looked down for blazes burning in peat, waded through freezing mud and was wary of mother bears and their cubs. "It's definitely different conditions to what you find in Australia," Ms Rhodes, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter, told AAP. "The fire gets in under the moss, underground and into the peat, so it's quite hard to get on top of. "It was wet, yet they're in drought, and you're digging to find where the fire is ... otherwise it can keep trickling away even when the snow comes." Ms Rhodes was one of about 100 Australian firefighters sent to bolster Canadian emergency efforts in June, along with volunteer rural crews from most states and territories. More than 4000 fires have torn through seven million hectares across Canada in 2025, with hundreds burning out of control in early August, according to data from the Interagency Forest Fire Centre. With specialist helicopter and winch training, Ms Rhodes is classified as an "arduous firefighter" who can work in remote and challenging terrain. It was up to her five-person crew to drop in and find fire hotspots, as blazes were hidden under the dense forest canopy in northwest Alberta. Arriving in late spring, the firefighters wore thermal gear as they worked on the edges of permafrost, before hotter days set in and sent flames running up trunks of towering cypress and pine trees. The season meant wildlife was also a concern. "You'd get to your site in the morning and there's fresh bear prints everywhere - you couldn't leave your lunch unattended," Ms Rhodes said. "They had young cubs with them, so they were a bit more on the aggressive side and you couldn't go off anywhere on your own. "But they were pretty good, they moved out of your way especially when the helicopter came in." The 30-year-old, who works as an emergency nurse on the NSW south coast in her spare time, learnt a lot from Canadian, American and Costa Rican counterparts. A pulaski, a light axe-like tool used by North American crews to dig through tree roots, is her new firefighting weapon of choice. "We often call on other countries when we have troubles ourselves," Ms Rhodes said. "It means a lot when we can get the help, so it's good to be able to return the favour." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those sentiments after a meeting with Canada's leader Mark Carney in Alberta in June. "Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that's becoming more and more difficult," Mr Albanese told reporters. "But it is possible ... that we learn off each other and our firefighters get skills to implement back in our respective home countries." When fighting fires in the Australian bush, Abbie Rhodes looks up for burning trees threatening to fall and is on alert for venomous snakes and spiders. During a deployment to battle wildfires in Canada, she looked down for blazes burning in peat, waded through freezing mud and was wary of mother bears and their cubs. "It's definitely different conditions to what you find in Australia," Ms Rhodes, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter, told AAP. "The fire gets in under the moss, underground and into the peat, so it's quite hard to get on top of. "It was wet, yet they're in drought, and you're digging to find where the fire is ... otherwise it can keep trickling away even when the snow comes." Ms Rhodes was one of about 100 Australian firefighters sent to bolster Canadian emergency efforts in June, along with volunteer rural crews from most states and territories. More than 4000 fires have torn through seven million hectares across Canada in 2025, with hundreds burning out of control in early August, according to data from the Interagency Forest Fire Centre. With specialist helicopter and winch training, Ms Rhodes is classified as an "arduous firefighter" who can work in remote and challenging terrain. It was up to her five-person crew to drop in and find fire hotspots, as blazes were hidden under the dense forest canopy in northwest Alberta. Arriving in late spring, the firefighters wore thermal gear as they worked on the edges of permafrost, before hotter days set in and sent flames running up trunks of towering cypress and pine trees. The season meant wildlife was also a concern. "You'd get to your site in the morning and there's fresh bear prints everywhere - you couldn't leave your lunch unattended," Ms Rhodes said. "They had young cubs with them, so they were a bit more on the aggressive side and you couldn't go off anywhere on your own. "But they were pretty good, they moved out of your way especially when the helicopter came in." The 30-year-old, who works as an emergency nurse on the NSW south coast in her spare time, learnt a lot from Canadian, American and Costa Rican counterparts. A pulaski, a light axe-like tool used by North American crews to dig through tree roots, is her new firefighting weapon of choice. "We often call on other countries when we have troubles ourselves," Ms Rhodes said. "It means a lot when we can get the help, so it's good to be able to return the favour." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those sentiments after a meeting with Canada's leader Mark Carney in Alberta in June. "Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that's becoming more and more difficult," Mr Albanese told reporters. "But it is possible ... that we learn off each other and our firefighters get skills to implement back in our respective home countries." When fighting fires in the Australian bush, Abbie Rhodes looks up for burning trees threatening to fall and is on alert for venomous snakes and spiders. During a deployment to battle wildfires in Canada, she looked down for blazes burning in peat, waded through freezing mud and was wary of mother bears and their cubs. "It's definitely different conditions to what you find in Australia," Ms Rhodes, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter, told AAP. "The fire gets in under the moss, underground and into the peat, so it's quite hard to get on top of. "It was wet, yet they're in drought, and you're digging to find where the fire is ... otherwise it can keep trickling away even when the snow comes." Ms Rhodes was one of about 100 Australian firefighters sent to bolster Canadian emergency efforts in June, along with volunteer rural crews from most states and territories. More than 4000 fires have torn through seven million hectares across Canada in 2025, with hundreds burning out of control in early August, according to data from the Interagency Forest Fire Centre. With specialist helicopter and winch training, Ms Rhodes is classified as an "arduous firefighter" who can work in remote and challenging terrain. It was up to her five-person crew to drop in and find fire hotspots, as blazes were hidden under the dense forest canopy in northwest Alberta. Arriving in late spring, the firefighters wore thermal gear as they worked on the edges of permafrost, before hotter days set in and sent flames running up trunks of towering cypress and pine trees. The season meant wildlife was also a concern. "You'd get to your site in the morning and there's fresh bear prints everywhere - you couldn't leave your lunch unattended," Ms Rhodes said. "They had young cubs with them, so they were a bit more on the aggressive side and you couldn't go off anywhere on your own. "But they were pretty good, they moved out of your way especially when the helicopter came in." The 30-year-old, who works as an emergency nurse on the NSW south coast in her spare time, learnt a lot from Canadian, American and Costa Rican counterparts. A pulaski, a light axe-like tool used by North American crews to dig through tree roots, is her new firefighting weapon of choice. "We often call on other countries when we have troubles ourselves," Ms Rhodes said. "It means a lot when we can get the help, so it's good to be able to return the favour." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those sentiments after a meeting with Canada's leader Mark Carney in Alberta in June. "Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that's becoming more and more difficult," Mr Albanese told reporters. "But it is possible ... that we learn off each other and our firefighters get skills to implement back in our respective home countries." When fighting fires in the Australian bush, Abbie Rhodes looks up for burning trees threatening to fall and is on alert for venomous snakes and spiders. During a deployment to battle wildfires in Canada, she looked down for blazes burning in peat, waded through freezing mud and was wary of mother bears and their cubs. "It's definitely different conditions to what you find in Australia," Ms Rhodes, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter, told AAP. "The fire gets in under the moss, underground and into the peat, so it's quite hard to get on top of. "It was wet, yet they're in drought, and you're digging to find where the fire is ... otherwise it can keep trickling away even when the snow comes." Ms Rhodes was one of about 100 Australian firefighters sent to bolster Canadian emergency efforts in June, along with volunteer rural crews from most states and territories. More than 4000 fires have torn through seven million hectares across Canada in 2025, with hundreds burning out of control in early August, according to data from the Interagency Forest Fire Centre. With specialist helicopter and winch training, Ms Rhodes is classified as an "arduous firefighter" who can work in remote and challenging terrain. It was up to her five-person crew to drop in and find fire hotspots, as blazes were hidden under the dense forest canopy in northwest Alberta. Arriving in late spring, the firefighters wore thermal gear as they worked on the edges of permafrost, before hotter days set in and sent flames running up trunks of towering cypress and pine trees. The season meant wildlife was also a concern. "You'd get to your site in the morning and there's fresh bear prints everywhere - you couldn't leave your lunch unattended," Ms Rhodes said. "They had young cubs with them, so they were a bit more on the aggressive side and you couldn't go off anywhere on your own. "But they were pretty good, they moved out of your way especially when the helicopter came in." The 30-year-old, who works as an emergency nurse on the NSW south coast in her spare time, learnt a lot from Canadian, American and Costa Rican counterparts. A pulaski, a light axe-like tool used by North American crews to dig through tree roots, is her new firefighting weapon of choice. "We often call on other countries when we have troubles ourselves," Ms Rhodes said. "It means a lot when we can get the help, so it's good to be able to return the favour." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those sentiments after a meeting with Canada's leader Mark Carney in Alberta in June. "Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that's becoming more and more difficult," Mr Albanese told reporters. "But it is possible ... that we learn off each other and our firefighters get skills to implement back in our respective home countries."
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Bears, ice and mud challenge Aussie firies in Canada
When fighting fires in the Australian bush, Abbie Rhodes looks up for burning trees threatening to fall and is on alert for venomous snakes and spiders. During a deployment to battle wildfires in Canada, she looked down for blazes burning in peat, waded through freezing mud and was wary of mother bears and their cubs. "It's definitely different conditions to what you find in Australia," Ms Rhodes, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter, told AAP. "The fire gets in under the moss, underground and into the peat, so it's quite hard to get on top of. "It was wet, yet they're in drought, and you're digging to find where the fire is ... otherwise it can keep trickling away even when the snow comes." Ms Rhodes was one of about 100 Australian firefighters sent to bolster Canadian emergency efforts in June, along with volunteer rural crews from most states and territories. More than 4000 fires have torn through seven million hectares across Canada in 2025, with hundreds burning out of control in early August, according to data from the Interagency Forest Fire Centre. With specialist helicopter and winch training, Ms Rhodes is classified as an "arduous firefighter" who can work in remote and challenging terrain. It was up to her five-person crew to drop in and find fire hotspots, as blazes were hidden under the dense forest canopy in northwest Alberta. Arriving in late spring, the firefighters wore thermal gear as they worked on the edges of permafrost, before hotter days set in and sent flames running up trunks of towering cypress and pine trees. The season meant wildlife was also a concern. "You'd get to your site in the morning and there's fresh bear prints everywhere - you couldn't leave your lunch unattended," Ms Rhodes said. "They had young cubs with them, so they were a bit more on the aggressive side and you couldn't go off anywhere on your own. "But they were pretty good, they moved out of your way especially when the helicopter came in." The 30-year-old, who works as an emergency nurse on the NSW south coast in her spare time, learnt a lot from Canadian, American and Costa Rican counterparts. A pulaski, a light axe-like tool used by North American crews to dig through tree roots, is her new firefighting weapon of choice. "We often call on other countries when we have troubles ourselves," Ms Rhodes said. "It means a lot when we can get the help, so it's good to be able to return the favour." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese echoed those sentiments after a meeting with Canada's leader Mark Carney in Alberta in June. "Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that's becoming more and more difficult," Mr Albanese told reporters. "But it is possible ... that we learn off each other and our firefighters get skills to implement back in our respective home countries."
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
It's a washout: heavy rain ends beloved Byron festival
A beloved writers' festival has been cancelled, with hundreds who travelled from interstate for the event left hanging as torrential rain buckets the east coast. Wet weather left thick mud and rivulets of water running through the parklands, leading to the cancellation of the Byron Writers Festival. Linda Brucesmith travelled from Brisbane to Bangalow for the festival and said torrential rain on Friday drowned out some of the speakers. "The grounds were saturated and the mud was incredibly slippery," she told AAP. "I grabbed at a wall at one point, to stop from falling. "A car bogged on the way to the parking field and the rain on the marquees was so loud at times it was hard to hear the speakers." Josh Bassett arrived yesterday and was met with muddy grounds but things only got worse when a torrential storm hit while his wife was on stage. The ovals began to flood and one of the marquees lost power, causing an evacuation. "Everyone had their feet up on chairs because there was two inches of water in the tent," he told AAP. "There was an electrical smell, and we all sat there nervously as the water rose around us." Festival organisers notified attendees on Friday night that the "difficult decision" had been made to cancel the event due to the ongoing rain. "This is a deeply regrettable but necessary decision," artistic director Jessica Alice said. "Though we had a wonderful but wet first day, now the safety of our community is our highest priority." Ms Brucesmith was disappointed the festival had been cancelled but believed it was the right call due to the conditions. She plans to stay in Bangalow for the rest of the weekend despite the cancellation. The Bureau of Meteorology had warned there would be rain throughout Saturday from NSW's Wollongong north to Coolangatta in Queensland. "Modest rainfall totals between five and 20mm but that annoying pattern of weather where it might rain for 15 or 30 minutes, dry up for an hour, then that rain comes through again," meteorologist Angus Hines said. There had been about 40mm of rain in 24 hours around the Byron Bay area, the bureau said. The Hervey Bay Whale Festival in southern Queensland was also cancelled this weekend due to the forecast wet weather. More than 90,000 people might need to wear rain jackets and prepare for soaked feet as they run the 14km from the city's CBD to Bondi. A beloved writers' festival has been cancelled, with hundreds who travelled from interstate for the event left hanging as torrential rain buckets the east coast. Wet weather left thick mud and rivulets of water running through the parklands, leading to the cancellation of the Byron Writers Festival. Linda Brucesmith travelled from Brisbane to Bangalow for the festival and said torrential rain on Friday drowned out some of the speakers. "The grounds were saturated and the mud was incredibly slippery," she told AAP. "I grabbed at a wall at one point, to stop from falling. "A car bogged on the way to the parking field and the rain on the marquees was so loud at times it was hard to hear the speakers." Josh Bassett arrived yesterday and was met with muddy grounds but things only got worse when a torrential storm hit while his wife was on stage. The ovals began to flood and one of the marquees lost power, causing an evacuation. "Everyone had their feet up on chairs because there was two inches of water in the tent," he told AAP. "There was an electrical smell, and we all sat there nervously as the water rose around us." Festival organisers notified attendees on Friday night that the "difficult decision" had been made to cancel the event due to the ongoing rain. "This is a deeply regrettable but necessary decision," artistic director Jessica Alice said. "Though we had a wonderful but wet first day, now the safety of our community is our highest priority." Ms Brucesmith was disappointed the festival had been cancelled but believed it was the right call due to the conditions. She plans to stay in Bangalow for the rest of the weekend despite the cancellation. The Bureau of Meteorology had warned there would be rain throughout Saturday from NSW's Wollongong north to Coolangatta in Queensland. "Modest rainfall totals between five and 20mm but that annoying pattern of weather where it might rain for 15 or 30 minutes, dry up for an hour, then that rain comes through again," meteorologist Angus Hines said. There had been about 40mm of rain in 24 hours around the Byron Bay area, the bureau said. The Hervey Bay Whale Festival in southern Queensland was also cancelled this weekend due to the forecast wet weather. More than 90,000 people might need to wear rain jackets and prepare for soaked feet as they run the 14km from the city's CBD to Bondi. A beloved writers' festival has been cancelled, with hundreds who travelled from interstate for the event left hanging as torrential rain buckets the east coast. Wet weather left thick mud and rivulets of water running through the parklands, leading to the cancellation of the Byron Writers Festival. Linda Brucesmith travelled from Brisbane to Bangalow for the festival and said torrential rain on Friday drowned out some of the speakers. "The grounds were saturated and the mud was incredibly slippery," she told AAP. "I grabbed at a wall at one point, to stop from falling. "A car bogged on the way to the parking field and the rain on the marquees was so loud at times it was hard to hear the speakers." Josh Bassett arrived yesterday and was met with muddy grounds but things only got worse when a torrential storm hit while his wife was on stage. The ovals began to flood and one of the marquees lost power, causing an evacuation. "Everyone had their feet up on chairs because there was two inches of water in the tent," he told AAP. "There was an electrical smell, and we all sat there nervously as the water rose around us." Festival organisers notified attendees on Friday night that the "difficult decision" had been made to cancel the event due to the ongoing rain. "This is a deeply regrettable but necessary decision," artistic director Jessica Alice said. "Though we had a wonderful but wet first day, now the safety of our community is our highest priority." Ms Brucesmith was disappointed the festival had been cancelled but believed it was the right call due to the conditions. She plans to stay in Bangalow for the rest of the weekend despite the cancellation. The Bureau of Meteorology had warned there would be rain throughout Saturday from NSW's Wollongong north to Coolangatta in Queensland. "Modest rainfall totals between five and 20mm but that annoying pattern of weather where it might rain for 15 or 30 minutes, dry up for an hour, then that rain comes through again," meteorologist Angus Hines said. There had been about 40mm of rain in 24 hours around the Byron Bay area, the bureau said. The Hervey Bay Whale Festival in southern Queensland was also cancelled this weekend due to the forecast wet weather. More than 90,000 people might need to wear rain jackets and prepare for soaked feet as they run the 14km from the city's CBD to Bondi. A beloved writers' festival has been cancelled, with hundreds who travelled from interstate for the event left hanging as torrential rain buckets the east coast. Wet weather left thick mud and rivulets of water running through the parklands, leading to the cancellation of the Byron Writers Festival. Linda Brucesmith travelled from Brisbane to Bangalow for the festival and said torrential rain on Friday drowned out some of the speakers. "The grounds were saturated and the mud was incredibly slippery," she told AAP. "I grabbed at a wall at one point, to stop from falling. "A car bogged on the way to the parking field and the rain on the marquees was so loud at times it was hard to hear the speakers." Josh Bassett arrived yesterday and was met with muddy grounds but things only got worse when a torrential storm hit while his wife was on stage. The ovals began to flood and one of the marquees lost power, causing an evacuation. "Everyone had their feet up on chairs because there was two inches of water in the tent," he told AAP. "There was an electrical smell, and we all sat there nervously as the water rose around us." Festival organisers notified attendees on Friday night that the "difficult decision" had been made to cancel the event due to the ongoing rain. "This is a deeply regrettable but necessary decision," artistic director Jessica Alice said. "Though we had a wonderful but wet first day, now the safety of our community is our highest priority." Ms Brucesmith was disappointed the festival had been cancelled but believed it was the right call due to the conditions. She plans to stay in Bangalow for the rest of the weekend despite the cancellation. The Bureau of Meteorology had warned there would be rain throughout Saturday from NSW's Wollongong north to Coolangatta in Queensland. "Modest rainfall totals between five and 20mm but that annoying pattern of weather where it might rain for 15 or 30 minutes, dry up for an hour, then that rain comes through again," meteorologist Angus Hines said. There had been about 40mm of rain in 24 hours around the Byron Bay area, the bureau said. The Hervey Bay Whale Festival in southern Queensland was also cancelled this weekend due to the forecast wet weather. More than 90,000 people might need to wear rain jackets and prepare for soaked feet as they run the 14km from the city's CBD to Bondi.
